In a typical application, various temperature sensitive refrigerated medications, narcotics, vaccines and chemicals (hereafter collectively referred to as medications) are stored in small refrigerators at nurses' stations in a hospital. Small refrigerators are not typically designed for security and are therefore not generally provided with any type of locking mechanism. New requirements set forth by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) as well as the ever-increasing needs for security are dictating the need to secure and track temperature sensitive medications, particularly narcotics.
As is known in the medical profession, certain medications may be temperature sensitive and may be rendered unfit for use if not maintained within a given temperature range. Under such conditions, therefore, a need exists not only to secure these medications but to also continuously monitor the temperature at which they are stored. There are a number of reasons that can cause temperature variations to occur. These reasons include, but are not limited to: power failure, refrigerator malfunction, or improper securing of the refrigerator door after access. Given the severe consequences, such as a medication becoming ineffective or dangerous after such an event, it is essential that any responsible party (such as, including nurses, doctors, and others) be made aware of any such event. Additionally, if such an event does occur, they may become a need or a desire to provide alarm functionality and/or restricted access to potentially unsafe medications.
As different medications have various recommended temperature ranges and associated tolerances for storage outside such ranges, the need exists for temperature monitoring and access control system functionality that may be fully programmable. Programmable adjustments which may be desired may include: settings of respective high and low temperature limits, settings of the permitted time period outside of such desired limits, settings of various alarms, and the setting of restricted access if certain limits are reached. For example, if a certain pre-programmed event were to occur, a refrigerator typically accessed by general users may become restricted to management level personnel only. The present temperature monitoring and access control system functionality would therefore have the potential to prevent the use of dangerous or ineffective medications.
While various implementations of secured refrigeration systems have been developed, and while various temperature responsive systems have been developed, no design has emerged that generally encompasses all of the desired characteristics as hereafter presented in accordance with the subject technology.